Skype begins charging for digital-to-analog calls
updated 02:05 pm EST, Wed December 13, 2006
Skype to Charge for Calls
The internationally dominant VoIP provider Skype today announced that it would begin charging for its SkypeOut phone service. The feature, which lets Skype account holders call real-world phone numbers from online, has been free since May for North American Skype users but will now cost $30 per year, providing both unlimited calling within the continent as well as an hour of international calling. International calls will be an average of 2.1 cents per minute depending on the region and whether the recipient is using a landline or mobile phone. Strictly online calls willl continue to be free, Skype said.
The news comes in the wake of many recently announcd Skype phones, which aim to completely replace analog phone service by replicating Skype's normally computer-only functions on the devices themselves.
